12 hit by car on Strip

He wishes he hadn’t made an exception on Wednesday.

After making the comment to Katrina Schmidt, Nunn was struck by an out-of-control metallic blue Pontiac about 4:15 p.m. and tossed six feet in the air.

The 40-year-old Nunn, who was the first person hit by the vehicle, said he lay on the ground and watched as the sedan bulldozed through 11 other people on the sidewalk in front of the Planet Hollywood Resort.

Nunn counted himself lucky. Eight of the 11 others hit by the Pontiac were taken to hospitals with serious injuries. Nunn and three others walked away from the crash with only bruises and scratches.

“I just remember I flew up in the air and I flipped over. Then I watched as the car plowed through those people like a bowling ball through pins,” Nunn said.

When the Pontiac finally stopped, Nunn could hear the screams. Schmidt said many of those injured suffered head wounds and were bleeding. The Pontiac’s windshield had a crater on the passenger side and was missing the passenger-side rearview mirror.

Schmidt quickly focused on Nunn. “I thought he was dead,” she said. “When you see someone flying through the air, you think the worst.”

Las Vegas police and Clark County firefighters were on the scene instantly, Nunn said.

Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said a triage was started and those with the most severe injuries were taken to hospitals. None of the injuries was life-threatening, he said.

The driver of the Pontiac was not acting right and might have passed out immediately before the wreck, his wife told authorities.

Paramedics believe the man was suffering from a diabetic episode and treated him for hypoglycemia, Allison said. “He came around and didn’t have any memory of what happened,” Allison said.

The driver also was taken to a hospital.

Paperwork given to victims of the wreck listed the driver of the Pontiac as Robert Allen Christenson of Arizona.

Police spokesman officer Marty Wright said all of the nine people, including the driver, transported to hospitals were from out of state. Their names were not immediately released.

The driver was cited for failure to maintain a lane, Wright said. He added that while it is believed that the driver suffered a medical episode, police still need to determine what caused it and whether the driver could have prevented it.

Wright said the judicial system will best determine what, if any, punishment the driver should face.

When he first heard the call Wednesday, Wright said he was brought back to Sept. 21, 2005.

That’s the date Stephen Ressa drove onto the sidewalk in front of Paris Las Vegas and struck 14 people, three of whom died.

Wright, who was off-duty and at a restaurant in Paris Las Vegas at the time, jumped into the fray and apprehended Ressa before more people were hurt.

“Sadly, this type of thing can happen out here,” he said.

By 6 p.m. Wednesday, a tow truck was removing the wrecked vehicle and three men had collected escort service fliers that had spilled onto the sidewalk and a bicycle that was struck by the Pontiac.

Traffic on the Strip soon returned to normal: slow and heavy.

As Nunn began to walk away from the scene, he checked his new Apple iPhone. He said it wasn’t damaged. “The silicon (protective cover) works pretty well,” he said.

Before heading back to work inside the Planet Hollywood Resort, Nunn added that he doesn’t believe he will be walking on the Strip again any time soon.